Southern Maine has announced that former women�s basketball coach Gary Fifield will return to the sidelines next season, reassuming the reins of a program he guided for 21 years before retiring from coaching last fall.
Fifield returns to the program he guided to a 541-86 record over 21 seasons after interim coach Mike McDevitt resigned to return to his alma mater, St. Joseph�s (Maine), as women�s basketball coach. In one season as the Huskies coach, McDevitt led the team to a 22-7 overall record, the Little East Conference tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.
&&f-boxr&&Southern Maine athletic director Al Bean indicated that McDevitt, who was hired on a one-year interim basis when Fifield retired, had been offered the head coaching position at USM following a search process to name Fifield�s permanent successor. At the same time, St. Joseph�s was seeking a new head coach following the departure of Deb Reardon after five seasons.
In 21 seasons, Fifield led the Huskies to the NCAA Division III Final Four five times (1988, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2006), including three appearances in the national championship game. Prior to the 2008-09 season, his .863 winning percentage was the highest among active Division III coaches with five or more years on the sidelines, and his 541 career wins ranked seventh among active coaches.
During that span (1987-2008), he guided the Huskies to 17 Little East Conference tournament championships, including 11 straight from 1997 through 2007, and won or shared the LEC regular season crown 19 times.
Fifield guided the Huskies to an NCAA tournament berth in 20 of his 21 seasons as head coach. His teams won 20 or more games every season, extending the Huskies� streak of consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins to 28, an NCAA Division III women�s basketball record. Six players combined to win the Little East Conference Player of the Year award 11 times, and three players were named D3hoops.com All-Americans since 1998, including 2007 Player of the Year Ashley Marble.